The Life of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol

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Anna de'Medici of Florence, Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol, Claudia de'Medici of Florence, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Thirty Years War

Ferdinand Charles (May 17, 1628 – December 30, 1662) was the Archduke of Further Austria, including the County of Tyrol, from 1646 to 1662.

The Habsburgs, like all German Royal Families, would divide thier lands amongst the sons of the sovereign. This lead to various branches of the Hapsburg family ruling different parts of Austria. Archduke Ferdinand Charles was the ruler of Further Austria.

Further Austria, also called Outer Austria or Anterior Austria, was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-western Germany, including territories in the Alsace region west of the Rhine and in Vorarlberg.

Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol

While the territories of Further Austria west of the Rhine and south of Lake Constance (except Konstanz itself) were gradually lost to France and the Swiss Confederacy, those in Swabia and Vorarlberg remained under Habsburg control until the Napoleonic Era.

The various branches of the House of Habsburg, technically known as the House of Austria, was not united under one monarch until the extinction of the Tyrolean branch of the House of Habsburg in 1665, Further Austria and the County of Tyrol then came under the direct control of Emperor Leopold I. More on that below.

Archduke Ferdinand Charles was the son of Archduke Leopold V of Further Austria (1586 – 1632) and his wife Claudia de’ Medici a daughter of Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Christina of Lorraine.

Archduke Leopold V of Further Austria was the son of of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria, (younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand II) and his wife, who was also his niece, Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, the daughter of Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and Archduchess Anna of Austria the third of fifteen children of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (1503–1564) from his marriage with the Jagiellonian Princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary (1503–1547).

Marriage

Anna de’ Medici

Archduke Ferdinand Charles married his double first cousin, Anna de’ Medici, a daughter of Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria († 1631) the youngest daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria, and his wife Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria. The match was negotiated by Ferdinand Charles’ formidable mother.

Previously there were plans for Anna de’ Medici to marry Gaston, Duke of Orléans, the third son of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici, but that plan fell through.

Instead she became engaged to Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Further Austria. In 1646, Anna left her native Florence for Innsbruck to be married on June 10.

The couple preferred the attractions of the opulent Tuscan court to the mountains of Tyrol, and consequently were more often at Florence than at Innsbruck.

Archduke Ferdinand Charles succeeded his father as Archduke of Further Austria upon the latter’s death in 1632. His mother, Claudia de’ Medici, became regent for her son. Claudia was successful in keeping Tyrol out of the Thirty Years War.

Archduke Ferdinand Charles took over his mother’s governatorial duties when he came of age in 1646. To finance his extravagant living style, he sold goods and entitlements.

For example, he wasted the exorbitant sum which France had to pay to the Tyrolean Habsburgs for the cession of their fiefs west of the Rhine (Alsace, Sundgau and Breisach). He also fixed the border to Graubünden in 1652.

Archduke Ferdinand Charles was an absolutist ruler, did not call any diet after 1648 and had his chancellor Wilhelm Biener executed illegally in 1651 after a secret trial. On the other hand, he was a lover of music: Italian opera was performed in his court.

Ferdinand Charles and Anna de’Medici had three children:

1. Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria (May 30, 1653 – April 8, 1676).
2. Daughter (born and died 19 July 1654), died at birth.
3. Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (August 17, 1656 – January 21, 1669).

Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Further Austria died in Kaltern at the age of 34.

Widowhood of Anna, Archduchess of Further Austria

As Archduke Ferdinand Charles and Anna de’ Medici only had two surviving daughters, his younger brother Archduke Sigismund Franz, inherited his titles as Count of Tyrol and Archduke of Further Austria.

Archduke Sigismund Franz, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol

On the eve of his marriage to another princess however, Sigismund Franz died in 1665. He was more able than his brother and could have made him a good ruler, but with his early death in 1665 the younger Tyrolean line of the Habsburg house ended.

This meant that the county reverted to direct rule from Vienna, as Emperor Leopold I, who as the heir male succeeded Sigismund Franz, took direct control over the government of Further Austria and Tyrol.

Despite the efforts of Anna to preserve some vestige of power for herself as Dowager Countess, she was unable to persuade Emperor Leopold to maintain some authority in Further Austria.

Her actions also stemmed from the fact that Anna wanted to protect the rights of her two daughters. This dispute would not be remedied until 1673, when her only surviving daughter, Archduchess Claudia Felicitas (Maria Magdalena had died in 1669) married her second cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, the man responsible for the seizure of Further Austria and the County of Tyrol in the first place. Both were great-grandchildren of Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria.

Archduchess Claudia Felicitas

She was his second wife. Emperor Leopold I had been previously married to Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain, the elder full-sister of King Carlos II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs.

Infanta Margaret Theresa was the first child of King Felipe IV of Spain born from his second marriage with his niece Archduchess Mariana of Austria, the second daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, herself the daughter of the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Her parents had six children, of whom only Maria Anna and two brothers survived to adulthood; Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia (1633-1654), and Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705).

The Archduchess Claudia Felicitas, married the Emperor with the consent of her relatives, rejecting other suitors of her hand, including the widower James, Duke of York and future King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Anna not only survived her husband by fourteen years but also outlived her eldest surviving daughter, who would die soon after her marriage to Emperor Leopold I. On September 11, 1676 in Vienna, Anna died aged sixty.

June 9, 1640: Birth of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia

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Archduke of Austria, Bohemia and Croatia, Holy Roman Emperor, House of Habsburg, King of Hungary, Leopold I, Peace of Westphalia, Philip IV of Spain, Thirty Years War, War of the Spanish Succession

Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Felician; June 9, 1640 – May 5, 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, Daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, prior to her Imperial marriage she was considered a possible wife for Charles, Prince of Wales; the event, later known in history as the “Spanish Match.”

Born on June 9, 1640 in Vienna, Leopold received the traditional program of education in the liberal arts, history, literature, natural science and astronomy. He was particularly interested in music, as his father emperor Ferdinand III had been. From an early age Leopold showed an inclination toward learning. He became fluent in Latin, Italian, German, French, and Spanish. In addition to German, Italian would be the most favored language at his court.

Leopold became heir apparent in 1654 after the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia (1633 – 1654).

Elected in 1658, Leopold I ruled the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1705, becoming the longest-ruling Habsburg emperor (46 years and 9 months). He was both a composer and considerable patron of music.

Leopold’s reign is known for conflicts with the Ottoman Empire in the Great Turkish War (1683-1699) and rivalry with Louis XIV, a contemporary and first cousin (on the maternal side; fourth cousin on the paternal side), in the west. After more than a decade of warfare, Leopold emerged victorious in the east thanks to the military talents of Prince Eugene of Savoy. By the Treaty of Karlowitz, Leopold recovered almost all of the Kingdom of Hungary, which had fallen under Turkish power in the years after the 1526 Battle of Mohács.

Leopold fought three wars against France: the Franco-Dutch War, the Nine Years’ War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. In this last, Leopold sought to give his younger son Charles the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Carlos II. Leopold started a war that soon engulfed much of Europe.

The early years of the war went fairly well for Austria, with victories at Schellenberg and Blenheim, but the war would drag on until 1714, nine years after Leopold’s death, which barely had an effect on the warring nations. When peace returned with the Treaty of Rastatt, Austria could not be said to have emerged as triumphant as it had from the war against the Turks.

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 (8 years after the birth of Emperor Leopold) had been a political defeat for the Habsburgs. It ended the idea that Europe was a single Christian empire; governed spiritually by the Pope and temporally by the Holy Roman Emperor.

Moreover, the treaty was devoted to parceling out land and influence to the “winners”, the anti-Habsburg alliance led by France and Sweden. However, the Habsburgs did gain some benefits out of the wars; the Protestant aristocracy in Habsburg territories had been decimated, and the ties between Vienna and the Habsburg domains in Bohemia and elsewhere were greatly strengthened.

These changes would allow Leopold to initiate necessary political and institutional reforms during his reign to develop somewhat of an absolutist state along French lines. The most important consequences of the war was in retrospect to weaken the Habsburgs as Holy Roman Emperors but strengthen them in their own hereditary lands, such as Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia.

In 1692, the Duke Ernst August of Hanover was raised to the rank of an Imperial Elector, becoming the ninth member of the electoral college. In 1700, Leopold, greatly in need of help for the impending war with France, granted the title of King in Prussia to the Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg. The net result of these and similar changes was to continue to weaken the authority of the emperor over the members of the Empire and to compel him to rely more and more upon his position as ruler of the Austrian Archduchy and of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia.

In 1666, Leopard married his first cousin and niece Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain (1651–1673), daughter and first child of King Felipe IV of Spain born from his second marriage with his niece Infanta Mariana of Austria.

His second wife was Archduchess Claudia Felicitas of Austria, the first child and eldest daughter of Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol, by his wife and first-cousin Anna de’ Medici. On her father’s side, her grandparents were Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria and his wife Claudia de’ Medici (after which she received her first name); on her mother’s side, her grandparents were Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria.

His third wife was Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg. She was the oldest of 17 children born from Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife, Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. On her father’s side her grandparents were Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and his first wife, Magdalene of Bavaria. On her mother’s side, her grandparents were Georg II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony.

November 22, 1602: Birth of Princess Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Queen of Spain and Portugal

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Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Henri IV of France and Navarre, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Maria de Medici, Philip IV of Spain, Queen of Portugal, Queen of Spain

Elisabeth de Bourbon of France (November 22, 1602 – October 6, 1644) was Queen of Spain from 1621 to her death and of Portugal from 1621 to 1640, as the first spouse of King Felipe IV-III. She served as regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt in 1640-42 and 1643–44. She was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Elisabeth, Madame Royale, was born at the Château de Fontainebleau on 22 November 1602; according to the court, her mother showed a cruel indifference to her, because she had believed the prophecy of a nun who assured her that she would give birth to three consecutive sons.

Shortly after her birth, she was betrothed to Philip Emmanuel, Prince of Piedmont, son and heir of Carlo Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy by Catherine Michelle , a daughter of King Felipe II of Spain. Philip Emmanuel died in 1605.

As a daughter of the King of France, she was born a Fille de France. As the eldest daughter of the king, she was known at court by the traditional honorific of Madame Royale. The early years of Madame Royale were spent under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a quiet place away from the Parisian court in which she shared education and games with her legitimate siblings (besides Dauphin, the other Enfants de France were Christine Marie, later Duchess of Savoy; Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, who died in infancy; Gaston, Duke of Orléans; and Henrietta Maria, later Queen of England) and the bastard children that her father had from his constant love affairs.

When King Henri IV was assassinated outside the Palais du Louvre in Paris on May 14, 1610, her brother the Dauphin (with whom Élisabeth had a very close relationship) succeeded him to the throne as King Louis XIII of France under the Regency of their mother Marie de’ Medici.

When Elisabeth was ten years old, in 1612, negotiations were begun for a double marriage between the royal families of France and Spain; Elisabeth would marry the Prince of Asturias (the future Felipe IV of Spain) and her brother Louis the Spanish Infanta Anne.

Marriage

After her proxy marriage to the Prince of Asturias and Louis’s proxy marriage to the Infanta Anne, Elisabeth and her brother met their respective spouses for the first time on November 25, 1615 on the Pheasant Island in the river Bidassoa that divides France and Spain between the French city of Hendaye and the Spanish city of Fuenterrabía.

This was the last time Louis would see his sister. In Spain, Elisabeth’s French name took on the Spanish form of Isabel. The religious ceremony took place in the Saint Mary Cathedral in Burgos. At the time of her marriage, the thirteen-year-old Isabel became the new Princess of Asturias.

This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to 1559 with the marriage of King Felipe II of Spain with the French princess Elisabeth of Valois, the daughter of King Henri II of France, as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border was painted by Peter Paul Rubens as part of his Marie de’ Medici cycle.

Queen

In 1621, by the time of the birth of the couple’s first child, the couple had ascended to the throne of Spain upon the death of Felipe III of Spain. The new Queen of Spain was aware that her husband had mistresses {Memoirs of Madame de Mottville}

Elisabeth herself was the subject of rumors about her relations with the noted poet Peralta (Juan de Tassis, 2nd Count of Villamediana), who was her gentleman-in-waiting. On May 14, 1622, a fire broke out while the Peralta masque La Gloria de Niquea was being acted before the court. Peralta carried the queen to a place of safety, which caused suspicion about their relationship to deepen.

Peralta neglected a significant warning that his life was in peril, and “he was murdered as he stepped out of his coach. The responsibility for his death was divided between Felipe IV and Olivares” (at the time, prime minister and king’s favorite).

Elisabeth’s last child, Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, would later become Queen of France as the wife of her nephew, the future Louis XIV. Unlike her husband and sister-in-law, she would not see the wedding that cemented the peace between her homeland and adopted country, Spain; the countries would be at war until 1659.

Elisabeth was renowned for her beauty, intelligence and noble personality, which made her very popular in Spain.

She was regent of Spain during the Catalan Revolt and supported the Duke of Nochera against the Count-Duke of Olivares in favor of an honorable withdrawal from the Catalan Revolt. Prior to 1640, the queen does not appear to have had much influence over state affairs, which was largely entrusted to Olivares. Elisabeth did not get along with Olivares, who reportedly assisted her spouse in his adultery and prevented her from achieving any political influence and once famously remarked, when she presented a political view to the king, that priests existed to pray as well as queens existed to give birth.

Between 1640 and 1642, Elisabeth served as regent for the king in his absence during the Catalan revolt, and was given very good critic for her efforts. She was reputed to have influenced the fall of Olivares as a part of a “women’s conspiracy” alongside the duchess of Mantua, Ana de Guevara, María de Ágreda and her chief lady-in-waiting Luisa Manrique de Lara, Countessess Paredes de Nava.

The fall of Olivares made the king consider her his only political partner, and when the king left again for the front in 1643, Elisabeth was again appointed regent assisted by Chumacero. Her second regency was also given good reviews, and she was credited by the king for her efforts to provide vital supplies for the troops as well as for her negotiations with the banks to provide finances for the army, offering her own jewelry as security.

It was rumored that she was intending to follow the example of queen Isabella the Catholic and lead her own army to retake Badajoz.

The Queen died in Madrid on October 6, 1644 at the age of forty-one, leaving two small children: Balthasar Carlos and Maria Theresa. After her death, her husband married his niece Archduchess Mariana of Austria. One of her great-grandsons, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, became King Felipe V of Spain, and through him, Elisabeth is an ancestor of all the subsequent Spanish monarchs.

September 17, 1665: Death of Felipe IV, King of Spain and Portugal.

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Felipe IV of Spain, House of Bourbon, House of Habsburg, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, King Carlos II of Spain, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Princess Elisabeth of France

From the Emperor’s Desk. Instead of focusing on the political aspects of his reign I will focus on his personal life.

Felipe IV (April 8, 1605 – September 17, 1665) was King of Spain and (as Felipe III) King of Portugal. He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Portugal until 1640. Felipe IV is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War.

Felipe IV was born in Royal Palace of Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Felipe III of Spain and Portugal and his wife, Archduchess Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I.

In 1615, at the age of 10, Felipe was married to 13-year-old Elisabeth of France, she was the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and Navarre and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Although the relationship between Felipe and Elisabeth does not appear to have been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Felipe to take mistresses instead.

Felipe had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Carlos, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Felipe; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour, following manoeuvering by Olivares’ successor, Luis de Haro.

Felipe IV remarried in 1649, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his only legitimate heir. His choice of his second wife, his niece, Infanta Maria Anna, second child of Maria Anna of Spain and her husband Ferdinand (1608-1657), who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1637.

Infanta Maria Anna was guided by politics and Felipe’s desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria. They were married on October 7, 1649. Maria Anna bore him five children, but only two survived to adulthood, a daughter Margarita Teresa, born in 1651, and the future Carlos II of Spain in 1661 – but the latter was sickly and considered in frequent danger of dying, making the line of inheritance potentially uncertain.

Perceptions of Felipe IV’s personality have altered considerably over time. Victorian authors were inclined to portray him as a weak individual, delegating excessively to his ministers, and ruling over a debauched Baroque court. Victorian historians even attributed the early death of Baltasar Carlos to debauchery, encouraged by the gentlemen entrusted by the king with his education.

The doctors who treated the Prince at that time in fact diagnosed smallpox, although modern scholars attribute his death to appendicitis.

Historians’ estimation of Felipe IV gradually improved in the 20th century, with comparisons between Felipe IV and his father, Filipe III, being increasingly positive – some noting that he possessed much more energy, both mental and physical, than his diffident father.

Felipe IV was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity; foreign visitors described him as being so impassive in public he resembled a statue, and he was said to have been seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life.

Felipe IV certainly had a strong sense of his ‘royal dignity’, but was also extensively coached by Olivares in how to resemble the Baroque model of a sovereign, which would form a key political tool for Felipe throughout his reign.

Felipe IV was a fine horseman, a keen hunter and a devotee of bull-fighting, all central parts of royal public life at court during the period.

Privately, Felipe appears to have had a lighter persona. When he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a ‘great sense of fun’. He privately attended ‘academies’ in Madrid throughout his reign – these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature and poetry with a humorous touch.

A keen theatre-goer, he was sometimes criticised by contemporaries for his love of these ‘frivolous’ entertainments. Others have captured his private personality as ‘naturally kind, gentle and affable’.

The Catholic religion and its rituals played an important part in Felipe’s life, especially towards the end of his reign. Depressed by events across his domains, he became increasingly concerned with religious affairs. In particular, Felipe paid special devotions to a painting of the Nuestra Señora del Milagro, the Virgin of Miracles; the painting was said to miraculously raise and lower its eyes in response to prayer.

During the emergency of 1640–1643, Felipe appears to have had a crisis of faith. Felipe IV genuinely believed the success or failure of his policies represented God’s favour or judgement on his actions. The combination of the revolts, the French advances and the loss of his trusted favourite Olivares appears to have deeply shaken him.

Felipe IV, as a lover of the theatre, has been remembered both for the ‘astonishing enthusiasm’ with which he collected art. On the stage, he favoured Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other distinguished dramatists.

Felipe IV has been credited with a share in the composition of several comedies. Court theatre used perspective scenery, a new invention from Italy not used in commercial theatre at the time.

Legacy

Felipe IV’s reign, after a few years of inconclusive successes, was characterized by political and military decay and adversity. He has been held responsible for the decline of Spain, which was mainly due to organic causes largely beyond the control of any one ruler.

Felipe IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos II, who was only 4 years old at the time, would be more fortunate than himself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to commemorate his life.

In his will, Felipe IV left political power as regent on behalf of the young Carlos II to his wife Maria Anna, with instructions that she heed the advice of a small junta committee established for this purpose. This committee excluded Juan, Felipe IV’s illegitimate son, resulting in a chaotic powerplay between Maria Anna and Juan until the latter’sdeath in 1679.

Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, Holy Roman Empress. Part III.

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Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Empire, House of Habsburg, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, Philip IV of Spain

Maria Anna arrived at the Imperial court in Vienna with the Spanish fashion, theatre, dance and music (including the first sounded guitar). As the wife of the heir, she maintained good relations with all the members of her husband’s family; however, she had a complicated relationship with Ferdinand’s stepmother, the Empress Dowager Eleonora Gonzaga, mainly because between both began a competition for influence at the Imperial court. Maria Anna also paid much attention to the arts, especially painting. She collected works of Italian, Spanish and Flemish painters of the late Renaissance and early Baroque.

In Regensburg on December 22, 1636 Ferdinand was elected as King of the Romans, and a week later he was crowned by the Archbishop of Mainz. Maria Anna was crowned Queen of Germany one month later, on January 21, 1637. After his father’s death on February 15, 1637, Ferdinand became Holy Roman Emperor under the regnal name of Ferdinand III and also became sovereign King of Hungary and Bohemia. As his wife, she received the titles of Holy Roman Empress and sovereign Queen. Her coronation as Queen of Hungary took place in Pressburg during the Hungarian Diet of 1637–1638.

Maria Anna, being active in politics as the adviser of her spouse, was an important mediator between the Emperor and their Spanish relatives. Despite the fact that she always defended the interests of her husband, she did not forget the interests of her brothers King Felipe IV and the Cardinal-Infante Fernando.

In her court, which was consisted mainly of Spaniards, frequent guests were the Spanish ambassador and diplomats. The Emperor, during his absences from the Imperial court in Vienna, appointed his wife as regent, for example in 1645 during the Thirty Years’ War, when he was in the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Death
In March 1645 Maria Anna and her children left Linz, due to the approach of the Protestant Swedish army, and moved to Vienna. By April it was ready to cross the Danube there and threatened to occupy the city. The Imperial family fled instead temporarily to Graz. After returning to Vienna, they were forced to move again to Linz because of the plague.

The Empress’ sixth pregnancy became known in January 1646; four months later, on May 12, at Linz Castle, Maria Anna suddenly felt ill with fever and heavy bleeding and died the next morning. Her unborn child, a girl, was taken out alive from her womb. She was named Maria after her mother, but only lived a few hours. On May 24, both mother and daughter in the same coffin were moved to Vienna and buried in the Imperial Crypt, which already contained the coffins with the remains of the two sons of the Empress who died earlier.

The funeral cortege was accompanied by the Spanish ambassador and the Empress’ maid of honor. Very upset by the death of his wife and child, the Emperor was unable to attend the funeral. However, after returning to Vienna in late August he finally paid his respects to the remains of Maria Anna, and in September he announced the engagement of their eldest daughter Maria Anna with Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias. However, the Prince died the following month shortly after the announcement. The Spaniards courtiers members of the late Empress’ household who came with her from Spain, including her confessor and the maids of honor of the late Empress, stayed at the Imperial court in Vienna and lived there for a few more years after her death.

Issue
During her marriage, Maria Anna gave birth to six children:

Ferdinand IV (1633 – 1654), King of the Romans and titular King of Hungary and Bohemia.
Maria Anna (1634 – 1696), who married her maternal uncle King Felipe IV of Spain.
Philipp August (1637 – 1639), Archduke of Austria.
Maximilian Thomas (1638 – 1639), Archduke of Austria.
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (1640 – 1705).
Maria (born and died May 13, 1646), Archduchess of Austria.

Maria Anna of Spain

July 12, 1651: Birth of Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain. Part II.

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Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, Holy Roman Empire, House of Bourbon, House of Habsburg, King Louis XIV of France, Margaret Theresa of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Philip V of Spain, War of the Spanish Succession

Holy Roman Empress and German Queen

The Infanta Margaret-Theresa formally entered Vienna On December 5, 1666. The official marriage ceremony was celebrated seven days later. The Viennese celebrations of the imperial marriage were among the most splendid of all the Baroque era, and lasted almost two years.

The Emperor Leopold ordered the construction of an open-air theatre near the present Burggarten, with a capacity of 5,000 people. For Margaret-Theresa’s birthday in July 1668, the theatre hosted the premiere of the opera Il pomo d’oro (The Golden Apple). Composed by Antonio Cesti, the opera was called the “staging of the century” by contemporaries due to its magnificence and expense. The year before, the Emperor gave an equestrian ballet where he personally mounted on his horse, Speranza; due to technical adaptations, the ballet gave spectators the impression that horses and carriages were hovering in the air.

Margaret-Theresa, Holy Roman Empress

Despite the age difference, Leopold was 26 and Margaret-Theresa was 15 at the time of the marriage, according to contemporaries they had a happy marriage. The Empress always called her husband “Uncle” and he called her “Gretl”. The couple had many common interests, especially in art and music.

During her six years of marriage, Margaret gave birth to four children, of whom only one survived infancy:

* Ferdinand Wenceslaus Joseph Michael Eleazar (1667-1668), Archduke of Austria.
* Maria Antonia Josepha Benedicta Rosalia Petronella (1669-1692), Archduchess of Austria, who inherited her mother’s claims to the Spanish throne, married Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and was the mother of Joseph-Ferdinand of Bavaria.
* John Leopold (born and died 20 February 1670), Archduke of Austria.
* Maria Anna Josepha Antonia Apollonia Scholastica (February 9, 1672 – 23 February 1672), Archduchess of Austria.

The Empress was intensely anti-Semitic, and inspired her husband to expel the Jews from Vienna, because she believed that they were to blame for her children’s deaths. During the Corpus Christi celebration of 1670, the Emperor ordered the destruction of the Vienna synagogue and a church was built on the site on his orders.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Even after her marriage, Margaret-Theresa kept her Spanish customs and ways. She did not speak German, and the arrogance of her native retinue led to a strong anti-Spanish sentiment among the imperial court. The courtiers openly expressed the hope that the weak Empress would soon die and thus give Leopold I the opportunity of a second marriage.

Death

During her last pregnancy Margaret-Theresa fell ill with bronchitis; this, along with her already weakened health due to four living childbirths and at least two miscarriages during her marriage, caused her early death on March 12, 1673, at the age of 21.

She was buried in the Imperial Crypt, in Vienna. Only four months later, the widower Emperor – despite his grief for the death of his “only Margareta” (as he remembered her) – entered into a second marriage with Archduchess Claudia-Felicitas of Austria, member of the Tyrol branch of the House of Habsburg.

After Margaret-Theresa’s death, her rights over the Spanish throne were inherited by her only surviving daughter Maria-Antonia, who in turn passed them to her only surviving son Prince Joseph-Ferdinand of Bavaria when she died in 1692.

After Joseph-Ferdinand’s early death in 1699, the rights of inheritance were disputed by both Emperor Leopold I and King Louis XIV of France, son-in-law of King Felipe IV, and grandson of King Felipe III. The outcome of the War of the Spanish Succession was the creation of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon in the person of King Felipe V, Margaret’s great-nephew.

Daughter

Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria

Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria (January 18, 1669 – December 24, 1692) the eldest daughter and only surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I and his wife Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain. She was the heir to the Spanish throne after her maternal uncle Carlos II of Spain from 1673 until her death. Archduchess Maria-Antonia of Austria was an Electress of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria.

On July 11, 2020, I featured Maria-Antonia of Austria’s husband, Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, here on the blog.

https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/july-11-1662-birth-of/

July 12, 1651: Birth of Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain. Part I.

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Austrian Habsburgs, Balthasa-Carlos, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, House of Habsburg, Louis XIV of France, Margaret-Theresa of Austria, Maria-Anna of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Prince of Asturias, Spanish Habsburgs

Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain (12 July 1651 – 12 March 1673) was, by marriage to Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.

Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain

Infanta Margaret-Theresa was born on July 12, 1651 in Madrid as the first child of King Felipe IV of Spain born from his second marriage with his niece Mariana of Austria. Because of this avunculate marriage, Margaret’s mother was nearly thirty years younger than her father.

Her mother, Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria (December 24, 1634 – May 16, 1696), was the the second child of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III and Infanta Maria-Anna of Spain, daughter of King Felipe III of Spain and Archduchess Margaret of Austria (the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria-Anna of Bavaria)

King Felipe IV of Spain and Portugal (father)

Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria (mother)

Maria-Anna of Austria and her husband Emperor Ferdinand III were first cousins continuing a long line of multiple cousin and niece/uncle marriages between the Austrian and Spanish branches of the House of Habsburg.

Infanta Margaret-Theresa of Spain also was the elder full-sister of King Carlos II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. She is the central figure in the famous Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, and the subject of many of his later paintings.

The marriage of her parents was purely made for political reasons, mainly the search for a new male heir for the Spanish throne after the early death of Balthasa-Carlos, Prince of Asturias in 1646.

Besides him, the other only surviving child of Felipe IV’s first marriage was the Infanta Maria-Theresa, (Margaret-Theresa‘s half-sister) who later became the wife of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre. After Margaret-Theresa, between 1655 and 1661, four more children (a daughter and three sons) were born from the marriage between Felipe IV and Maria-Anna of Austria, but only one survived infancy, the future King Carlos II of Spain.

Margaret-Theresa

Margaret-Theresa did not develop the serious health issues and disabilities (because of the close consanguinity of her parents) that her younger brother Carlos had shown since his birth. During her childhood she was once seriously ill, but survived. According to contemporaries, Margaret-Theresa had an attractive appearance and lively character. Her parents and close friends called her the “little angel”.

She grew up in the Queen’s chambers in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid surrounded by many maids and servants. The Infanta loved candies, which she constantly hid from the physicians who cared for the health of her teeth. Both Margaret-Theresa’s father and maternal grandfather Emperor Ferdinand III loved her deeply. In his private letters King Felipe IV called her “my joy”. At the same time, Margaret-Theresa was brought up in accordance with the strict etiquette of the Madrid court, and received a good education.

In the second half of the 1650s at the imperial court in Vienna the necessity developed for another dynastic marriage between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the House of Habsburg. The union was needed to strengthen the position of both countries, especially against the Kingdom of France. At first the proposals were for Maria-Theresa (Margaret-Theresa’s half-sister) to marry the heir of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduke Leopold Ignaz. But in 1660 and under the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, the Infanta was married to the French King; Louis XIV, and as a part of her marriage contract, she was asked to renounce her claims to the Spanish throne in return for a monetary settlement as part of her dowry, which was never paid.

Then began discussion about a marriage between Margaret-Theresa and the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (who was her maternal uncle and paternal cousin). However, the Madrid court hesitated to agree to this proposal, because the infanta could inherit the Spanish crown if her little brother died. The count of Fuensaldaña, Spanish ambassador in France, suggested the infanta as a possible bride for King Charles II of England. However, King Felipe IV rejected this idea, replying that the King of England should look for a wife in France.

Margaret-Theresa

In October 1662, the new Imperial ambassador in the Spanish Kingdom, Count Francis Eusebius of Pötting, began one of his main diplomatic assignments, which was the celebration of the marriage between the Infanta Margaret-Theresa and the Emperor Leopold I. Negotiations by the Spanish side were led by Ramiro Núñez de Guzmán, Duke of Medina de las Torres. On April 6 1663, the betrothal between Margaret and Leopold I was finally announced. The marriage contract was signed on December 18. Before the official wedding ceremony (which, according to custom, had to take place in Vienna) another portrait of the Infanta was sent, in order for the Emperor to know his bride.

King Felipe IV died on September 17, 1665. In his will, he did not mention Margaret-Theresa’s betrothal; in fact, the context in which the document was prepared suggests that the late monarch still hesitated to marry his daughter to his Austrian relative because he sought to ensure her rights as sole ruler of the Spanish crown in case of the extinction of his male line. Maria-Anna of Austria, now Dowager Queen and Regent of the Kingdom on behalf of her minor son Carlos II, delayed the wedding of her daughter.

The marriage was agreed upon only after intense Imperial diplomacy efforts. On April 25, 1666, the marriage by proxy was finally celebrated in Madrid, in a ceremony attended not only by the Dowager Queen, King Carlos II and the Imperial ambassador but also by the local nobility; the groom was represented by Antonio de la Cerda, 7th Duke of Medinaceli.

On April 28, 1666 Margaret-Theresa traveled from Madrid to Vienna, accompanied by her personal retinue. The Infanta arrived at Denia, where she rested for some days before embarking on the Spanish Royal fleet on July 16, in turn escorted by ships of the Order of Malta and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Then (after a short stop in Barcelona because Margaret had some health issues) the cortege sailed to the port of Finale Ligure, arriving on August 20.

There, Margaret-Theresa was received by Luis Guzman Ponce de Leon, Governor of Milan. The cortege left Finale on September 1 and arrived in Milan ten days later, although the official entry was not celebrated until September 15. After spending almost all September in Milan, the Infanta continued the journey through Venice, arriving in early October in Trento. At every stop Margaret-Theresa received celebrations in her honor.

On October 8, the Spanish retinue arrived at the city of Roveredo, where the head of Margaret-Theresa cortege, Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 8th Duke of Alburquerque officially handed the Infanta to Ferdinand Joseph, Prince of Dietrichstein and Count Ernst Adalbert von Harrach, Prince-Bishop of Trento, representants of Leopold I. On October 20, the new Austrian cortege left Roveredo, crossing the Tyrol, through Carinthia and Styria, and arrived on 25 November 25, at the district of Schottwien, twelve miles from Vienna where the Emperor came to receive his bride.

April 8, 1605: Birth of King Felipe IV of Spain.

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Carlos II of Spain, Elisabeth de Bourbon of France, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain, Thirty Years War

Felipe IV (April 8, 1605 – September 17, 1665) was King of Spain and (as Felipe III, King of Portugal). He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Portugal until 1640. Felipe is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the Thirty Years’ War.

Felipe IV when young

Felipe IV was born in Royal Palace of Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Felipe III and his wife, Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Her elder brother was the Archduke Ferdinand, who succeeded as Emperor Ferdinand II in 1619.

At the age of 10, Felipe was married to 13-year-old Elisabeth of France, eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici, although the relationship does not appear to have been close; some have even suggested that Olivares, his key minister, later deliberately tried to keep the two apart to maintain his influence, encouraging Felipe to take mistresses instead.

Elisabeth de Bourbon of France

Felipe had seven children by Elisabeth, with only one being a son, Balthasar Carlos, who died at the age of sixteen in 1646. The death of his son deeply shocked the king, who appears to have been a good father by the standards of the day. Elisabeth was able to conspire with other Spanish nobles to remove Olivares from the court in 1643, and for a brief period she held considerable influence over Felipe; by the time of her death, however, she was out of favour, following manoeuvering by Olivares’ successor, Luis de Haro.

Felipe remarried in 1649, following the deaths of both Elisabeth and his only legitimate heir. His choice of his second wife, Maria Anna, also known as Mariana, Felipe’s niece and the daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand, was guided by politics and Philip’s desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria.

They were married on October 7, 1649. Maria Anna bore him five children, but only two survived to adulthood, a daughter Margarita Teresa, born in 1651, and the future Carlos II of Spain in 1661 – but the latter was sickly and considered in frequent danger of dying, making the line of inheritance potentially uncertain.

Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria

Privately, Felipe appears to have had a lighter persona. When he was younger, he was said to have a keen sense of humour and a ‘great sense of fun’. He privately attended ‘academies’ in Madrid throughout his reign – these were lighthearted literary salons, aiming to analyse contemporary literature and poetry with a humorous touch.

Although interpretations of Felipe’s role in government have improved in recent years, Diego Velázquez’s contemporary description of Felipe’s key weakness – that ‘he mistrusts himself, and defers to others too much’ — remains relevant. Although Felipe’s Catholic beliefs no longer attract criticism from English language writers, Felipe is still felt to have been ‘unduly pious’ in his personal life. Notably, from the 1640s onwards he sought the advice of a noted cloistered abbess, Sor María de Ágreda, exchanging many letters with her.

This did not stop Felipe from becoming known for his numerous affairs, particularly with actresses; the most famous of these was his actress-mistress María Inés Calderón (La Calderona), with whom he had a son in 1629, Juan José, who was brought up as a royal prince. By the end of the reign, and with the health of infants Carlos in doubt, there was a real possibility of Juan José’s making a claim on the throne, which added to the instability of the regency years.

Felipe was to reign through the majority of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, a turbulent period of military history. In Felipe III’s final years, Baltasar de Zúñiga had convinced him to intervene militarily in Bohemia and the Electorate of the Palatinate on the side of Emperor Ferdinand II. Once Philip himself came to power, he was convinced by de Zúñiga, appointed his principal foreign minister, and Olivares that he should commit Spain to a more aggressive foreign policy in alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. This would lead Philip to renew hostilities with the Dutch in 1621 in an attempt to bring the provinces to the negotiating table with the aim of achieving a peace treaty favourable to Spanish global interests.

Felipe IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos II, who was only 4 years old at the time, would be more fortunate than himself.

This date in History: September 5, 1638. Birth of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre.

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Anne of Austria, Francoise d'Aubigne, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XIII of France, Maria Theresa of Spain, Marquise de Maintenon, Palace of Versailles, Philip III of Spain, Philip IV of Spain

(Personal note: I cannot do justice to the life of Louis XIV in this single post. Therefore I’ll just focus on aspects of his personal life).

Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death on September 1st 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV’s France was a leader in the growing centralisation of power.

Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, the eldest daughter of King Felipe III-II of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan and his wife Margaret of Austria (the daughter of Archduke Carl II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria and thus the paternal granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I).

He was named Louis Dieudonné (Louis the God-given) and bore the traditional title of French heirs apparent: Dauphin. At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631. Leading contemporaries to regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Hence the name Louis Dieudonné.

Anne of Austria, Queen Consort of France.

Louis XIV’s relationship with his mother, Anne of Austria, was uncommonly affectionate for the time. Contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is highly likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis’ journal entries, such as:

“Nature was responsible for the first knots which tied me to my mother. But attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood.”

It was his mother who gave Louis his belief in the absolute and divine power of his monarchical rule.

Maria Theresa of Spain Wife of Louis XIV

Maria Theresa of Spain (September 10, 1638 – July 30, 1683), was the daughter of King Felipe IV of Spain and Elisabeth of France (the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici). As a member of the House of Austria, Maria Theresa an Infanta of Spain and was entitled to use the title Archduchess of Austria. She was known in Spain as María Teresa de Austria and in France as Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche.

Maria Theresa of Spain

In 1658, as war with between France and Spain began to wind down, a union between the two royal families was proposed as a means to secure peace. Maria Theresa and the French king were double first cousins: Louis XIV’s father was Louis XIII of France, who was the brother of Maria Theresa’s mother, while her father was brother to Anne of Austria, Louis XIV’s mother.

The negotiations for the marriage contract were intense. Eager to prevent a union of the two countries or crowns, especially one in which Spain would be subservient to France, the diplomats sought to include a renunciation clause that would deprive Maria Theresa and her children of any rights to the Spanish succession.

This was eventually done but, by the skill of Cardinal Mazarin and his French diplomats, the renunciation and its validity were made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. As it turned out, Spain, impoverished and bankrupt after decades of war, was unable to pay such a dowry, and France never received the agreed upon sum of 500,000 écus.*

A marriage by proxy to the French king was held in Fuenterrabia. Maria Theresa and her father, Felipe IV and the entire Spanish court accompanied the bride to the Isle of Pheasants on the border in the Bidassoa river, where Louis and his court met her in the meeting on the Isle of Pheasants on June 7, 1660, and she entered France. On June 9, the marriage took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz at the recently rebuilt church of Saint Jean the Baptist. After the wedding, Louis wanted to consummate the marriage as quickly as possible. The new queen’s mother-in-law (and aunt) arranged a private consummation instead of the public one that was the custom. On August 26, 1660, the newlyweds made the traditional Joyous Entry into Paris.

Maria Theresa was very fortunate to have found a friend at court in her mother-in-law, unlike many princesses in foreign lands. She continued to spend much of her free time playing cards and gambling, as she had no interest in politics or literature. Consequently, she was viewed as not fully playing the part of queen designated to her by her marriage.

Queen Maria Theresa became pregnant in early 1661, and a long-awaited son was born on November 1, 1661. Louis XIV and his wife Maria Theresa of Spain had six children. However, only one child, the eldest, survived to adulthood: Louis, le Grand Dauphin, known as Monseigneur.

Despite evidence of affection early on in their marriage, Louis was never faithful to Maria Theresa. He took a series of mistresses, both official and unofficial. Among the better documented are Louise de La Vallière (with whom he had 5 children; 1661–67), Bonne de Pons d’Heudicourt (1665), Catherine Charlotte de Gramont (1665), Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan (with whom he had 7 children; 1667–80), Anne de Rohan-Chabot (1669–75), Claude de Vin des Œillets (1 child born in 1676), Isabelle de Ludres (1675–78), and Marie Angélique de Scorailles (1679–81), who died at age 19 in childbirth. Through these liaisons, he produced numerous illegitimate children, most of whom he married to members of cadet branches of the royal family.

Maria Theresa is frequently viewed as an object of pity in historical accounts of her husband’s reign, since she had no choice but to tolerate his many love affairs. As time passed, Maria Theresa also came to tolerate her husband’s prolonged infidelity with Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. The king left her to her own devices, yet reprimanded Madame de Montespan when her behaviour at court too flagrantly disrespected the queen’s position.

Maria Theresa died at the early age of 44 from complications from an abscess on her arm. Upon the death of Maria Theresa Louis XIV remarked that she had never caused him unease on any other occasion.

Second Marriage

Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon (November 27, 1635 – April 15, 1719) was the second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known during her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon. Her marriage to the king was never officially announced or admitted, and thus she was never considered queen of France. Even so, she was very influential at court, and was one of the king’s closest advisers.

Owing to the disparity in their social status, the marriage was morganatic, meaning that Madame de Maintenon was not openly acknowledged as the King’s wife and did not become queen. No official documentation of the marriage exists, but that it took place is nevertheless accepted by historians.

Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon

Louis proved relatively more faithful to his second wife, Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. He first met her through her work caring for his children by Madame de Montespan, noting the care she gave to his favorite, Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine. The king was, at first, put off by her strict religious practice, but he warmed to her through her care for his children.

When he legitimized his children by Madame de Montespan on December 20, 1673, Françoise d’Aubigné became the royal governess at Saint-Germain. As governess, she was one of very few people permitted to speak to him as an equal, without limits. It is believed that they were married secretly at Versailles on or around October 10, 1683 or January 1684. This marriage, though never announced or publicly discussed, was an open secret and lasted until his death.

Historians have often remarked upon Madame de Maintenon’s political influence, which was considerable. She was regarded as the next most powerful person after the king, considered the equivalent of a prime minister after 1700.

Without an official position as queen, she was more easily approached by those wishing to have influence with the king. He would not always consult her on more important matters, though. Her judgment was not infallible and mistakes were undoubtedly made: replacing Catinat by Villeroi in 1701 may be attributed to her, but not entire policies (according to Saint-Simon, certainly not the policy with regard to the Spanish Succession). Madame de Maintenon used her power for personal patronage.

* Incidentally, this was part the reason the grandson of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa inherited the Spanish throne as Felipe V in 1700 after the death of Maria Theresa’s younger half-brother, Carlos II, and the War of the Spanish Succession, founding the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon, which has reigned with some interruption until present time.